Terpios granulosus Bergquist, 1967

Calcinai, Barbara, Belfiore, Giuseppe, Pica, Daniela, Torsani, Fabrizio, Palma, Marco & Cerrano, Carlo, 2020, Porifera from Ponta do Ouro (Mozambique), European Journal of Taxonomy 698, pp. 1-56 : 46-47

Terpios granulosus Bergquist, 1967

Fig. 26

Terpios granulosa Bergquist, 1967: 168 , fig. 5.

Material examined

PONTA DO OURO • 1 sample growing on a Carijoa colony about 6 cm long; 26°46′55.65″ S, 32°54′13.41″ E; Three Sisters; 25.7 m deep; 8 Apr. 2017; Cerrano leg.; PO96 .

Description

Thin encrusting sponge, dark blue colored; it covers colonies of the octocoral Carijoa sp. (Class Anthozoa, Phylum Cnidaria) ( Fig. 26A ). Whitish in ethanol, bluish in formalin. The surface is microhispid.

SKELETON. It is formed by brushes of spicules which, projecting also over the surface, cause the microhispid surface ( Fig. 26B ).

SPICULES. Tylostyles with heads variable in shape, from mushroom-shape to plurilobate ( Fig. 26C ). The size is 77.5–(255, 81.7)– 330 µm ×1.25–(4.1, 0.9)– 5 µm.

Remarks

The peculiar shape of the heads, the general morphology and the skeletal structure are typical characters of species in the genus Terpios Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 . The specimen fits the description of Terpios granulosus ( Bergquist, 1967) from Hawaii later also recorded by Vacelet & Vasseur (1971) and Barnes & Bell (2002) from Kenya and Madagascar.

Figures

Fig. 26. Terpios granulosus Bergquist, 1967. A. Sponge (PO96) encrusting the octocoral Carijoa sp. B. Tylostyles organized in brushes (SEM). C. Tylostyle and magnification of heads, different in shape.